MAKING UP THE NEWS

Not long after the Cronulla violence the ABC ominously reported, under the headline "Sydney travel warnings have little impact" (my bold):

Tourism Australia says travel warnings advising tourists not to visit Sydney beaches have had no noticeable effect on the industry.

The Cronulla riots have prompted Britain, Canada and Indonesia to issue the advisories, which warn of the possibility of racist violence.

The wording of this is iffy: a travel advisory is not the same as a travel warning. There were no travel warnings from any of the countries listed. The British advisory made mention of Cronulla as follows (my bold):

Since 11 December 2005, there have been sporadic outbreaks of racially motivated violence in Cronulla, Maroubra, Brighton-le-Sands and other areas of south west Sydney. You should monitor the situation, and exercise caution if visiting these areas – particularly on the local beaches, or at night.

The Canadian advisory had nothing to say about Cronulla or racist violence. There was no Indonesian travel advisory, not online anyway.

On 27 December I sent the following email to ABC News Online:

ABC News Online recently ran a news item stating in part:

"Tourism Australia says travel warnings advising tourists not to visit Sydney beaches have had no noticeable effect on the industry.

"The Cronulla riots have prompted Britain, Canada and Indonesia to issue the advisories, which warn of the possibility of racist violence."

I have searched online but cannot find any such advisories from the countries named. Please provide additional information regarding these travel advisories.

ABC staff didn't respond straight away, what with Australia pretty much shutting down for the holidays, but eventually did, advising that the advisories were available online at the British Department of Foreign Affairs site and at the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs site. Yes, the advisories were available but, as noted above, do not match up with the ABC's reporting. The email from ABC staff did not comment on the Indonesian advisory.

It was probably a slow news day so someone just made some stuff up.